Greenville couple donates $600K to Clemson engineering program

A retired businessman and active philanthropist and his wife are presenting Clemson University with a hefty gift.

William Sturgis and his wife, Martha Beth Sturgis, are giving $600,000 to Clemson University's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering to establish a distinguished professorship in the department, Paul Alongi, technical and features writer for Clemson, said in a news release.

It's the largest donation the department's ever received, and the couple plans to double their donation in their will, Alongi said.

The William B. “Bill” Sturgis, ‘57 & Martha Elizabeth “Martha Beth” Blackmon Sturgis Distinguished Professorship in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering will allow the selected faculty member to help both graduate and undergraduate students in their research endeavors, pursue entrepreneurial interests and travel to national meetings to present their work to others in their respective fields, Alongi said.

The $500,000 endowment is expected to generate investment returns that can be spent in accordance with the professorship. The remaining $100,000 provides five years of funding while the returns are accumulating, Alongi said.

In a 37-year career, Sturgis served as executive vice president of worldwide packaging operations at W.R. Grace and president of its North American Cryovac Division, Alongi said.

When William Sturgis retired in 1997, he received the Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest honor, Alongi said. He and his wife stayed in Greenville after his retirement.

Sturgis and his wife established the professorship because they wanted to do something for chemical engineering at Clemson, where he got his start, Alongi said.

The couple, married for 60 years, have traveled to every continent except Antarctica, Alongi said. They have three sons, two of them Clemson graduates, and seven grandchildren.